A True Hero
by Grining Prey
Summary: When there is no other option, but to flee, John Shepard stood and fought. Against unbeatable odds he has preserved, and endured, but still his will is tested with new obstacles.
1. Mindoir

**A True Hero**

When there is no other option, but to flee, John Shepard stood and fought. Against unbeatable odds he has preserved, and endured, but still his will is tested with new obstacles.

**Mindoir**

Shepard sighed as he looked up at the night sky; with out any distracting lights from a city it was truly a beautiful sight to behold. School had just ended, and he would have been a junior in the upcoming year, but his father had injured himself, and the farm had needed someone to tend to it. Without having enough credits to hire full time workers the only help the family could get was an old Turian, an oddity among the human settlement, but he was a friend of his parents. The old Turian he wasn't capable of running the place himself though so Shepard was forced to drop out of school so his family could continue to live their meager existence. Sophomore year was suppose to be the year Shepard got to go to a real school, and make real friends, but he hand been denied that right. Instead he had worked his ass off day and night, doing what he hated most, farm work.

Sighing Shepard closed his eyes, with his father finally better he could slack off and act like a real teenager for once.

The sound of sirens is what woke Shepard up from his nap. It was pitch black when Shepard looked towards the town, eyes wide with fear. That siren meant only one thing, slavers. Jumping up Shepard's mouth hung agape as tall billowing smoke clouds rose from the town. Backing away slowly from the sight Shepard turned before breaking out into a dead sprint, his family's farm was to far away from the town to hear the warning. Despite not being religious himself Shepard found himself praying to whichever god would listen, hoping that his family would still be there when he arrived.

"No, no, no!" Shepard shouted as he picked up speed, despite his legs protest. He could see a fire off in the distance, in the direction of the farm. It couldn't be, it just couldn't be possible, his eyes had to be fooling him, but as he got closer he knew it wasn't a trick. ""No," Shepard whined as he feel to his knees, tears streaking down his cheeks. "John?" A slightly metallic voice called to him, causing him to turn sharply. "Catulus, is that you?"

"Over here John." Getting to his feet Shepard made his way to the old Turian. "Catulus!" He shouted once he got close enough, the old Turian was in bad shape; blood seemed to be pouring out of him in buckets through the bullet holes that littered his chest, and an old assault rifle lay next to him. "Hold on, the Alliance should be here soon," Shepard tried to reassure the old Turian, only for him to chuckle.

"Its too late for me John," He coughed, spraying Shepard's face with his warm blood. "I-I'm sorry, but your mother and father, John, they were still in the house." Shepard lowered his head, he had expected as much, but to hear it hurt so much more. "Listen John," Catulus grabbed his arm weakly. "Take my rifle and get to the barn," He coughed again, "Those bastards landed not to far from here and you can bet that they'll be back this way soon."

"But, what about you?" Shepard watched as the old Turian started to laugh, before it turned into a brutal coughing fit. "I told you already, John, it's to late for me." Off in the distance they could hear a pair of slavers approaching, laughing and joking loudly, it was obvious they weren't expecting any resistance for when they returned to their ship. "They must be getting their ship ready for the slaves," Catulus told Shepard weakly. "Hurry before they make it over here."

Numbly Shepard reached for the assault rifle, before silently standing up and backing away from the old Turian. "Don't look back John, no matter what you hear." He nodded, tears racing down his face as he ran to the barn.

"Hey look," One of he Batarian slavers pointed out to his ally once they got close enough. "We got ourselves a Turian," He kicked Catulus roughly in the side causing the old Turian to groan. "And he's still breathing."

"I think I remember one of the guys talking about some Turian that put up some kind of fight," Another Batarian answered. "Took out five of our men before, they could put him down."

Smiling a sick smile the first Batarian drew his shotgun, "Well he's bleed to much to be of any use to us." Pressing the barrel against the old Turian's head the slaver chuckled, "Any last words?"

Catulus muttered something, causing the second slaver to frown, "What you say?" He asked kicking the old Turian.

"I said," Catulus coughed, "See you in hell!" Raising his hand, Catulus revealed a primed grenade.

* * *

Hearing an explosion Shepard turned, "Catulus!" He shouted into the dark, part of him knew that he wouldn't get an answer. "Damn it," He cried out as fresh tears fell. Taking deep breaths Shepard tried his best to compose himself before running to the barn. Quietly opening the door he seemed to slide through the crack before closing it behind him. Holding his head in his hands Shepard began to slide down the door, eventually ending up sitting on the ground sobbing with his head held in his hands.

It was gone, his family, his friend, his life, it was all gone, it wouldn't be long until some slavers decided to search the barn, and then what would he do? Fight them with some rifle that looked like it would jam the second he pulled the trigger. He didn't want to die, and he really didn't want to become a slave, but what could he do, he was just a sixteen-year-old boy. He didn't have biotics, or military training, and he only knew enough about his omni-tool to perform the very basics. "Damn it, why did they have to die?" He cried into at the dark barn. "Damn it," Getting to his feet Shepard breathed heavily as he looked around the room, his legs felt like gelatin and he was forced to lean against the wall for support. "I don't want to die," He told himself as he began taking shaky, unsure, steps towards the back of the barn, something back there was shining despite the inky blackness. Reaching the back Shepard found the source of the light, his fathers M9 Bayonet, its blade as sharp as ever despite its age. Gripping the handle tightly Shepard stared into the blade, reading the words that had been carved into it since his family began the tradition of passing it down to the first-born child. "Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death," Shepard whispered quietly to himself. Holding the knife close to his chest Shepard breathed deeply, he knew those words by heart, but he never thought it would be so hard to be brave. Putting the blade back in its sheath Shepard found a new resolve to live, feeling his legs regain their strength he began to look around for a place to hide.

"Can't be to obvious," he thought out loud as he regarded a pile of hay. Looking around the machinery Shepard finally decided that under the tractor would be a decent place to hide, in the dark it would be easy for anyone to just look over him, but at the same time it would provide him with the ability to keep a watchful eye on the door. Getting on his stomach Shepard slowly crawled under the Tractor, before finally getting himself in a comfortable position. Setting the rifle out in front of him Shepard began the long process of waiting, but it wasn't long before someone kicked open the door, "Knock-knock." The comment was greeted by chuckling. "Anyone home?" The same voice called out.

Shepard felt his heart beat quicken, it sounded like a tribal drum beat in his ears, but he hoped it was just his imagination. Silently gripping the rifle Shepard scanned the room; there were no more than two of them, one staying by the door, while another walked around the room, both of them were armored, and they were either human or batarian. Shepard silently gulped; there was no way he would let them take him as a slave if they found him, he would rather die, he just hoped they didn't find him. "So," The one by the door called, getting Shepard's attention. "Anyone hiding in here?"

"Na there's no one here, lets burn the place and get out of here."

His last words rung through Shepard's mind like a bell, there was no way he could get out of here they set the place on fire.

"Just make it quick, the others are taking off as we speak."

"Won't take, but a second."

The rest of the slavers were already taking off, that meant that nobody would care if these twos didn't report back. Steeling his nerves Shepard rolled out from under the tractor, cradling the rifle in his lap as he leaned back against the tractors rear wheel. Sticking his head out from behind his hiding spot Shepard noted grimly that they were both batarians. Leaning back into cover Shepard began to take deep breaths as he realized that if he didn't do something soon the wooden building he was hiding in would go up in flames. Leaning out once more Shepard began to think of a strategy, if he could possibly get one of them with the knife by surprise than he could take the other out with the rifle during the confusion, but that left two big questions: Did he risk exposing himself to the one by the door while he attempted to stab the one closest to him, or did he risk throwing the knife at the slaver by the door and gunning down the other one. Sighing Shepard knew that neither of the options was good, but the second one, he was positive that he would be able to take down at least one of the slavers.

Pulling out his knife Shepard sighed one last time, so much for finally getting to be a real teenager. Leaping out from behind his cover Shepard turned to the first slaver and threw his knife with all his strength, he didn't wait to see the out come in stead he brought up his rifle and fired at the second slaver.

He hadn't stood a chance, but guided by the unseen hand of fate a Hero had been born.

* * *

Garrus Vakarian grumbled as he sat down with his tray of food, the military wasn't exactly known for its cuisine, not that he would ever complain. Sighing he grudgingly picked at his food, listening in on some of the conversations that were going on around him.

"Hey you hear about that human colony that got hit by the slavers?" One of his many nameless new teammates spoke up.

"What about it?' Someone questioned.

"They say there was only one survivor, a sixteen year old kid, can't remember what his name was, but apparently he killed two slavers. One with some human brand knife and the other with a piece of shit rifle."

"Lucky kid," Garrus found himself saying as he tried not to gag on his food, military life was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

* * *

Urdnot Wrex grumbled to himself as he tried to make himself comfortable in a ships cargo hold. After another long day of being a mercenary he sure could use some sleep. _"And in other news today the human settlement Mindoir was attacked by slavers leaving-" _He blocked the rest of the news report out, and hoped that whoever was listening to it would stop soon, after all he was tired of killing for today. Not that that had ever stopped him before.

* * *

Liara T'soni sighed, yet another dead-end. After her theory on the Protheans disappearance had been completely refused she had decided to dedicate her life to proving her theory. She just hoped that it would get easier as time went on. Sighing as she gathered her equipment Liara wondered if anyone else in the universe was having a bad day.

* * *

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, a young seven-year-old, slept in the safety of her mothers arms. The older woman's comforting embrace, frightened away the nightmares, that the young girl had earlier, allowing her to sleep in peace for now.

* * *

Kaidan Alenko sighed as he lay in bed; in one hand he held a pamphlet for the Alliance, in the other a high school diploma. This was his chance to get out and see the Galaxy, become a soldier, and make his father proud. Or it was his chance to settle down, start a family, and be normal. He snorted, normal, he could never be normal, and he knew it. The only place he would ever be accepted would be in the military. Brining the Diploma up to his face he sighed, but it couldn't hurt to try could it?

* * *

Ashley Williams sighed as she turned off her fathers recording, and fell back into her bed. Closing her eyes she couldn't wait till her father was home to read her the poem in person, but the recording would have to do for now.

* * *

I Looooove Mass Effect, favorite game, and I like Mass Effect 2 even more than that. So why not make a fanfic. I think I spelt everything right, but you never know, so if you guys see something let me know.

Forever Grinning Till the End,  
This is Grining Prey Signing Out.


	2. The Blitz

A True Hero

**The Blitz **

**An: **Layout of the scene, a large city. Plenty of skyscrapers, parked hover car things, and lots of alleyways, four-way intersection with a large fountain in the middle. Lots of debris from collapsed buildings, due to earlier bombing from slaver's ships in orbit. Shepard and his team are pinned down in the southern street, while slavers come from every other direction, but behind them, for now.

He breathed heavily, Shepard, a freshly graduated N7, couldn't believe what was happening; Batarian slavers had attacked Elysium. It was suppose to be shore leave for him and his team, but instead he was stuck hiding behind a collapsed wall, while the slavers fired relentlessly at him. Without armor and equipped with only a pistol, and his knife, Shepard had ordered his team to get the civilians to safety while he stayed behind and held the slavers off. "Damn," He muttered as the Batarian's fire showed no signs of letting up, and the wall he was hiding behind was showing signs of giving, he was going to have to come up with something fast. Looking around Shepard's attention was drawn to some intact windows above where the slavers where, "Perfect," He smirked. Backing away from his cover Shepard shot every window he could see from his position, not stopping until the pistol overheated. Leaning back against the wall he smiled sadly when he heard the sound of smashing glass, accompanied by the sound of mutilated screaming. Peaking out of cover Shepard saw several Batarians standing looking towards those that had been hit by the falling glass. Leveling his pistol at the closest slaver Shepard fired, drawing the attention back to him, but his target was already dead. Leaning back into cover Shepard felt relieved at the fact that the sound of gunfire had lessened. He had put a small dent in the initial strike team, but it wouldn't be long till more showed up.

After several more minutes of constant fire Shepard frowned when there was a sudden pause. Tensing Shepard made the grim realization that they where probably going to charge him, hopefully it would only be one or two. Pressing himself as close to the wall as he could Shepard waited for what seemed like an eternity, until the barrel of a shotgun stuck out from the wall. Leaping up Shepard grabbed the gun, and yanked it away from its owner, causing the Batarian that was holding onto it to stumble forward. Using the Slavers momentum against him Shepard brought his knee up into the crotch of the Batarian, the most lightly armored area. As the man doubled over in pain Shepard hit him with a powerful uppercut, making him straighten up. Grabbing the Slaver by the shoulders Shepard violently spun him around, and wrapped him up in a powerful headlock. Stepping out of cover the Slaver proved to be an effective shield as he absorbed all the bullets, quickly rushing forward Shepard fired his pistol as he searched for new cover. Reaching the next building Shepard violently snapped the neck of his victim, before kicking the body forward.

Leaning back against the wall of the building Shepard sighed, he was closer to the slavers now, and he regretted throwing the shotgun and not recovering it. Sighing Shepard eyed the slavers body seeing something he hadn't realized was there before, a pair of grenades, and a new pistol. Grabbing the new equipment Shepard leaned out of cover slightly only to be forced back into it, but it didn't matter he had a good idea of where the remaining slavers where hiding. Arming the grenades Shepard silently counted, "One…Two…Three," Quickly throwing both grenades he heard panicked screaming, followed by a pair of explosions. After a few minutes of silence Shepard grabbed both pistols and cautiously stepped out of cover, only to realize that the initial slaver strike team was dead or dying. Lowering his guns Shepard stayed alert, but as he made his way to the slavers cover he knew that there was no need, they weren't even groaning.

"Commander!"

Turning around Shepard raised an eyebrow as he saw his approaching team. They were group of seven, including himself, and each one had their own talents. April was the teams sniper, she was a little on the short side, but Shepard had never seen such a sure shot. Will was a biotic, damn good with a shotgun too. Michael was the best tech Shepard had ever meet, and he could handle a pistol when there was a need. Ava was the teams heavy weapon specialist, and was a little 'girly' for someone with her job. Ethan was the close combat specialist, mean as a Krogan to boot. Emma was the team's explosive expert, the girl just loved to see things go up in flames. And finally to wrap everything up there was Shepard, the all rounder capable of efficiently wielding all weapons. They had been together since boot camp, and they trusted each other with their lives.

"Thought I told you guys to keep the civvies safe?" Shepard watched as his team approached him, admiring his handy work as they went.

"Civvies are safe sir," Ethan saluted him, "So we thought that we would provide you with some back up, not that you need it though apparently."

"No kidding there," April let out a low whistle, "These guys didn't stand a chance against you Shep."

"Thanks, but reinforcements will be here soon. Search these guys for weapons, and then find some cover." Shepard sighed as his team got to work, "Who knows when their reinforcements will get here." Walking over to the nearest dead slaver Shepard picked up the discarded assault riffle, frowning, as he had to remove the disembodied arm that was still holding onto it. It was a simple gun, no modifications or special ammo it was a grunts gun. Suddenly something occurred to him, "Where's the soldier that are stationed here?" He called out to his teammates.

"Elysium is being hit from all sides Commander," Emma answered as she walked up to Shepard. "They're all spread thin defending the city. We could have had a group come with us, but we told them to stay and defend the civilians, sir."

Shepard grumbled, "Right should've known." He sighed, "All right every one get to some cover-" Shepard didn't get to finish as he was interrupted by what sound like a clap of thunder, turning quickly he was just in time to catch the falling Emma. "Sniper!" He shouted as he threw himself, along with Emma behind a wall for cover. Sitting down he felt for a pulse, but he knew she was gone; the gaping hole in her chest was proof enough. Setting her down Shepard closed her blank unseeing eyes, and sighed as he steeled himself. "Anyone see where that shot come from?"

"Ground level sir, directly in front of us." Will paused, "Emma, sir is she…"

Shepard didn't answer; instead he stuck he head out of cover ever so slightly spotting a glinting scope he quickly withdrew his head. "Will he's hiding behind that fountain, think you can get him out of there?"

"Yes sir," The L3 biotic answered darkly. Breathing deeply for a minute dark energy seemed to surround him as he leaned out of cover, and swept his arm upward. Shepard didn't even have to issue the order; the Batarian was filled with more holes than he could count the second he was lifted out of cover. Breaking into a sprint Shepard rushed the fountain, his eyes focused on the discarded sniper. Reaching it Shepard turned and sprinted back to his team, the firing had stopped, and he heard the lifeless Batarian hit the ground. Taking cover back behind the wall again Shepard tossed the sniper to the awaiting April, "Take a position farther back, and put that to good use, more are bound to be on their way."

"Aye, aye, sir," She nodded grimly before walking back down the street, taking a position behind an overturned car, a good fifty feet away from the rest of the team.

Shepard sighed, "Alright everyone else get to cover, we're going to hold this position until back up arrives."

"And if back up doesn't show up?" Michael questioned aloud.

Shepard was quite for a moment, his team's eyes upon him. "They'll make it," he told them causing the team to relax slightly; after all nobody was better at killing slavers than their commander, so why shouldn't they believe him, but Shepard wondered if his words were true.

* * *

"It was an honor to serve with you, Shepard," Ava coughed violently, as Shepard held her in his arms. He wanted to tell her that everything would be fine, but it would be a pointless lie. "Rest, Ava," he closed her now dead eyes, "We'll be with you soon." Setting her body down next to the rest of the team Shepard leaned heavily back against the wall, at some point the other marines must have been over run, because they had been fighting slavers at both sides for almost twenty minutes now.

"Commander," Will looked over at Shepard, a trail of blood leaked from the young mans nose, a sign of over using his powers. "That Krogan is getting closer."

"Right," Shepard muttered as he leaned out of cover. The Krogan was a merc, no doubt hired muscle. They had been fighting for a little of two hours now, and little by little Shepard's team had started to die off, leaving only himself and Will. Throughout the fight there had been a growing addition of alien fighters, mostly Turian, but Shepard had seen several Humans and the occasional Asari and Krogan, but this Krogan was different from the others, he was a biotic. Pulling out his assault riffle Shepard allowed the weapon to overhead before leaning back into cover; the damned thing's barriers weren't even fazed. "Ha if that's the best you can do human," The Krogan called out gloatingly, "Than you might as well as save me the trouble and let me kill you now!"

Shepard felt the ground shake as his eyes widened, quickly jumping away from his cover Shepard turned to see a hulking mass crash through the broken wall he was hiding behind. "Shit," Turning his assault rifle on the Krogan Shepard was pleased to find that it had cooled down. The Krogan's barriers flared, causing the mountain of flesh to growl as bullets penetrated his flesh, but it did nothing to slow his advance. Backing into a way Shepard felt his heart stop when his rifle started to beep angrily at him, overheated. Throwing the gun to the side Shepard drew his knife, and took a fighting stance.

"Haha, brave-" but he didn't get to finish as Will tackled him from behind in a biotic charge. Stumbling the Krogan reached around and threw Will off his back. Hitting the ground the L3 biotic rolled before regaining his footing. Standing up Will cocked his fist back, and charged the Krogan again. Catching the punch the Krogan smiled as he felt the felt the bones in Will's hand snap. Screaming out in pain, Will tried to catch in him in surprise with a hit from his free hand, but the Krogan caught that as well. The Krogan, who was smiling the entire time, forced Will to his knees. It all seemed to be over when Shepard came out of nowhere, tackled the Krogan, and buried his knife in the alien's gut. As the Krogan stumbled Shepard pushed with all his strength causing them to fall over. Quickly pulling his blade out Shepard slit the surprised Krogan's throat, it seemed for a moment that even that wouldn't kill him as he gurgled and tried to throw Shepard off of him, but it was in vain as he finally died. Sheathing his knife Shepard began to turn when he was suddenly hit across the temple, causing him to pass out as his vision blurred.

Shepard felt himself being picked up by the arms, his legs being dragged along the ground he tried to clear his head. After a short distance whoever was dragging him finally stopped, and he felt his senses coming back after he heard what sounded like a gunshot. Picking his head up Shepard wearily looked around, on each side of him stood a Batarian, they were holding him up. Looking towards where the shot came from Shepard felt his anger boiling, there was a Batarian, most likely the commander of this group, holding a smoking pistol, and lying at his feet was a dead Will. Trying to struggle against his captors Shepard locked eyes with the Batarain walked to him at a leisurely pace, "You human's put up some kind of fight, but of course you lost in the end." Feeling the pistol placed against his skull Shepard glared up at the Batarian, "Any last words?"

"Fuck you," Shepard growled.

"Heh you humans, never know when you're beaten do you?" Smiling the Batarain got ready to end Shepard's life, when his head was blown off from a sniper round; the reinforcements had finally arrived.

* * *

Forever Grinning 'til the End,  
This is Grining Prey Signing Out.


End file.
